Contribution of native pasture to the sensory properties of Ragusano cheese.

“Ragusano is a Protected Denomination of Origin cheese produced in the Hyblean area of Sicily. Sixteen samples of Ragusano cheese from two different treatments [pasture and total mixed ration (TMR)] were evaluated after 4 and 7 mo of aging. The color of the cheeses produced from milk of cows consuming fresh native pasture plants was much more yellow than cheeses from TMR fed cows (i.e., higher Hunter b value). This was due to transfer of beta-carotene and related compounds from the diet and demonstrated that compounds from native pasture plants changed the sensory characteristics of Ragusano cheese. To avoid a “halo” effect in a trained panel, quantitative descriptive analysis sensory evaluation of these cheeses for odor, taste, consistency, and mouth structure, color differences among cheeses were masked. A unique approach in sensory analysis was developed using sunglasses with lenses designed to block light at the specific wavelengths at which panelists would detect differences in color among samples. Testing was conducted every 2-wk period (15-d increments) with two tests per week using 11 trained panelists. All the panelists tasted all the products. Panelists were able to detect significant differences in the sensory characteristics of cheeses produced from milk of cows consuming native pastures versus TMR even when the color difference was masked.”

Discover's Newsletter

Sign up to get the latest science news delivered weekly right to your inbox!

Discoblog

Quirky, funny, and surprising science news from the edge of the known universe.

About ncbi rofl

NCBI ROFL is the brainchild of two Molecular and Cell Biology graduate students at UC Berkeley and features real research articles from the PubMed database (which is housed by the National Center for Biotechnology information, aka NCBI) that they find amusing (ROFL is a commonly-used internet acronym for "rolling on the floor, laughing").
Follow us on twitter: @ncbirofl